The Memorial Union Building (MUB) is a multipurpose building located on the campus of

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

. It was completed in 1952. Originally constructed to facilitate the needs of 1,169 students, the MUB was renovated in 1987 to accommodate a large increase in enrollment. The building is used for many things, including as a lounge,

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

, dining area,

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

, and contains conference rooms,

student organization A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university, college, or other educational institution, whose membership ty ...

offices, and

game room Game Room was a video game compilation developed by Krome Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room let players download classic video games and co ...

Background

Michigan Tech

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

, who felt that inadequate social facilities existed on campus, suggested the construction of MUB. The school's

alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students ( alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, school A school is the educati ...

initiated a national

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

, which raised $300,000 towards the construction of a new social activities facility. The funds were augmented with bonds and

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

s to meet construction costs. Some alumni refused support, voicing objections that the construction was a "foolhardy" proposition, especially considering the costs involved. Others, feeling that the state should pay for such buildings, also refused their support, whether monetary or otherwise. Nevertheless, the project went forward, and upon completion the alumni association dubbed it the Memorial Union Building as a tribute to those who served in the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

from Michigan Tech. The "Union" component was also intended to unite the

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

through the social activities contained therein.

References

Michigan Tech Archives

External links

* http://www.mub.mtu.edu/ {{Coord, 47.1188, -88.5492, type:landmark_region:US-MI, display=title Michigan Technological University Buildings and structures in Michigan